The days passed at a blistering pace. It seemed as if there was no span of time from the moment Livia woke up to the moment she went back to sleep. She focused all her attention on various tasks to distract herself from the passage of time.

  She opened her eyes. The first thing that crossed her mind.

  I need to speak with Pavan. Artesh will surely listen to him.

  Livia did just that. The first thing she did was prepare herself for the climate. A small fireplace in her room allowed it to stay warm throughout the day. It was one of few places in the entire fortress that she could pretend she was not surrounded by snow everywhere. She scattered the burning logs in her fireplace to kill the fire and prepared herself for the temperature outside. She covered herself from head to toe in layers and stepped outside.

  Right outside her room, in the long hallway of the building she already felt the cold. Pavan’s room was close to hers, but she knew that she would not find him there. She left her building and walked in the snow, the ice crunching underneath her every step. The outside was quiet. It had been a long time since she could hear her own steps.

  She stopped and looked at the drilling fields. They were empty. Gone were the large ice targets. Gone were the embankments from which the recruits, old and new, would practice. Now there was only one large empty field. Tomorrow, on the eve of their departure, Jokasta would address the army. The knot in Livia’s stomach tightened.

  Focus.

  She kept walking. She went in the direction of the soldiers quarters. The soldiers had been placed in a corner of the fortress, erecting a large number of tents that housed them. Normally if the drilling fields were empty their quarters would be the main source of commotion, but not today.

  Livia entered into the long rows of tents. Soldiers were in various stages of preparation. Livia knew that Pavan should be here, but she didn’t know where exactly.

  “Quartermaster Livia!” A soldier shouted in surprise.

  Livia turned to the man, he had been engrossed in a conversation with another soldier. Upon noticing Livia the two of them stood up and slightly bowed their heads.

  “Have you gentlemen seen Pavan today?” Livia asked.

  “Yes Quartermaster.” The first to acknowledge Livia replied. “He has been talking to various soldiers since this morning.”

  The two were still slightly bowing.

  “Oh sorry, you both can look at me.” Livia replied. “I mean at ease or whatever it is.” She added.

  The two men raised their heads and looked at her.

  They’re so young.

  “Did you want us to help you find him? Is there another way we may help you Lady?” The young soldier continued.

  “I do have a question for you.” She asked. “What has Commander Artesh told the soldiers about the ration pack that you are supposed to bring? Do you know about the various items within it?”

  “Commander Artesh said that we would pick our provisions on the morning we left for the campaign.” He replied.

  “Did he say anything about the different food items within it?” She followed up. “Do you know of the tools that have been provided to you all? Each one of the packs comes with tools that will allow you to dig a small hole and start a fire. Are you aware of the different foods within? The non-perishable food?”

  The soldier looked at his comrade. The two of them shook their heads.

  “Of course.” Livia replied.

  Artesh only cares about the troop movements and the fight. He can be such a damned-

  “Quartermaster Livia, is there something we should do?” The second soldier spoke up, distracting her.

  “What?” She said, turning to him. “No, don’t worry. I will look for Pavan and speak to him. He will relay this information to all of you.”

  Livia continued down the rows of tents. Soldiers would continue to snap at attention when they saw her. They always seemed surprised to see her.

  “Lady Livia!” “Oh damn it’s her!” “Look you idiot!”

  “Have you seen Pavan?” “You have?” “So he went that direction?”

  Livia continued the trail until she saw him in the distance. Pavan was in the center of a group of soldiers. Here came the only sounds that Livia could hear above the crunch of her boots.

  “The Giant did not have the time to grasp what occurred!” Pavan spoke as he brandished a spear. “In the blink of an eye Commander Artesh ran him straight through with his spear!”

  Pavan mimed the movements of Artesh, recreating a vivid scene for the soldiers. Pavan did a decent job of impersonating the inimitable Artesh. Physically he was not so different from Artesh. He had a sturdy build like Artesh, and he was tall and strong. Like Artesh he was one of the taller humans that Livia had met, an impressive physical specimen. But beyond that the similarities ended. Artesh was a fighter gifted with martial prowess that could not be replicated by any other furtive. Livia who had seen Nanaua in combat knew that Artesh would have no issue dispatching her and that had been before Jokasta imbued him with her powers. His mix of raw prowess and physical power imbued by Jokasta meant that Artesh was comparable to a higher end Titan. But just like a powerful Titan, Artesh did not worry himself with small details.

  Livia walked up to the group of soldiers surrounding Pavan all enthralled in his retelling of the story.

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  “And in one swift motion the Giant had been slain!” Pavan finished. “Our leader, Commander Artesh had slain his second Titan!”

  Pavan smiled as he finished his story. The soldiers around him cheered as he ended his tale.

  “Very soon you will all stand next to Commander Artesh as we deal death blows to these Giants!” Pavan continued now.

  “They will know not only Commander Artesh, Titan of the furtives. But they will know Garn!” Pavan said to loud cheering from their soldiers.

  One of the soldiers raised his arms in triumph.

  “And they will know Adia! And Selim!”

  With each name uttered by Pavan, the soldiers erupted into cheers.

  “And they shall know Primus Pavan!” A soldier from the group shouted.

  This drew a sly smile from the warrior, which was promptly echoed by other soldiers.

  “Primus Pavan!” The shout echoed as other soldiers joined in on the fun.

  Livia could not help but smile for him. Pavan was dedicated to the soldiers in a way that Artesh could never connect with. They loved him for it and he was happy to rouse their morale.

  As Pavan reveled in the other soldiers’ adulation he turned towards the lone solitary figure. Upon realizing who had been standing there the entire time Pavan quickly bowed.

  “Lady Livia!” He quickly shouted as he bowed.

  The other soldiers quickly turned to see Livia and all followed Pavan’s lead. Before long the rabble had quieted as they all bowed to her.

  “You can all be at ease.” Livia said as she walked towards Pavan.

  Pavan rose up and smiled warmly at Livia. She opened her arms to him and the two embraced in a hug.

  After they were done Livia turned to the soldiers surrounding them.

  “If you will all forgive me I must borrow Pavan for some time.” Livia announced.

  “All right you all return to your tents and continue the preparations!” Pavan added. “I’ve already taken enough of your time.”

  The soldiers did as they were told and returned to their tents.

  “I trust everything is going well?” Pavan asked as the two looked at each other now.

  “Yes, but there is something I need your help with.” Livia said. “I am concerned that the soldiers do not know what to do with their rations. It does not strike me as something Artesh put a lot of thought into and it seems that every time I’ve talked to him about it his mind is everywhere else but in the present.”

  Pavan listened intently to Livia.

  “Well that does sound exactly like my Artesh.” Pavan replied. “So what do I need to learn about these ration packs?”

  Livia smiled.

  Without Pavan I don’t know what Artesh would do.

  Livia and Pavan began walking over to the ration storehouse. As they walked over Livia slipped on a patch of ice but Pavan quickly grabbed her before she fell.

  “This damned ice is everywhere!” She expressed in frustration.

  “I bet you must be missing that island of yours right now.” Pavan said as he helped her right up.

  “Ugh if only.” Livia began. “All I would have to worry there was that my workshop was clean and that Corin wouldn’t leave any entrails over the kitchen floor. None of this bundling up with layers and worrying about dying with each step.”

  “Oh, was that person your sibling?” Pavan asked with genuine curiosity.

  Livia’s heart dropped.

  “Oh no!” She quickly replied, trying to think of an excuse.

  “Umm he was just a town local. He would sometimes bring food over, um that was really it.” She added, fully aware that her story was nowhere near convincing.

  “I see.” Pavan replied.

  How could I have been so careless! If Jokasta finds out!

  Pavan seemed even more curious now, but Livia noticed a quick shift.

  “Sometimes I think about random people as well.” Pavan continued. “Why the other day I was thinking about the local drunk. He was a very sweet man, but our Lord, the Dragon Tarkunax would not suffer such sloppiness. He was told to show up to a meeting with Tarkunax to explain himself and he knew he would be told to give up his drinking. Knowing he could not live without his alcohol he showed up almost unable to walk and was eaten on the spot by Tarkunax. My hope is that when I die I am doing what I love as well!”

  Pavan added with laughter.

  “But I guess that’s enough reminiscing for one day.” He added as they continued walking towards the storehouse.

  Livia was still rattled from the slip of her tongue but followed after Pavan.

  They made their way in and Pavan grabbed one of the packs.

  “You really put in as much as possible into these packs as possible.” Pavan said.

  “I would rather err on the side of caution.” Livia replied.

  “Of course. Now let’s see what’s in this.” He said as he dug into the pack.

  The first item he pulled out was a spade.

  “These small spades can be used for many things.” Livia began. “For example if there are ever high winds and you need to start a fire there is a technique you can use to start a fire. You will need to dig two holes still separated by a forearm length. One of them will go straight down and be about knee deep and the other will dig diagonally and connect to the first hole. At the bottom of the first one you can start a fire and the wind will not kill it.”

  “I see, this will be useful in case the Onsiels cannot help in maintaining fires.” Pavan replied.

  “Correct!” Livia replied.

  “And you are able to pull a metal rod from the handle, here.” Livia said as she grabbed the spade.

  She was able to grab a small metal rod from the handle of the spade.

  “If you need to start a fire by yourself you can strike the spade on to the rod and the sparks can ignite it.” She showed him.

  “Ah interesting!” He added. “How about this pouch in here?”

  “That is some of the dragon powder that is used in the ammunition. You can use it for many different things but it can be dangerous so be careful.”

  Pavan and Livia spent a considerable amount of time studying the contents of the pack. He asked questions about each of the items and asked when it would be appropriate to eat certain things. When Artesh had been shown the contents of the pack he had merely glanced over them.

  Once they had finished they sat quietly on the floor of the storehouse, the contents of the pack all arrayed on the floor.

  Pavan focused on them. He turned to look at Livia.

  “I know Artesh doesn’t say it, but we really appreciate all that you’ve done for this effort.” He added.

  “He doesn’t need to.” She replied. “I am doing this to help the cause as a whole, not for anyone in particular. I just wish he paid more attention to things like this. I don’t understand why he seems so dismissive.”

  “Well he does have a reason.” Pavan replied.

  “Like what?”

  Pavan looked around before he spoke.

  “I probably shouldn’t say this but Artesh is deathly afraid of seeming incompetent in front of you and Zhi.” Pavan said with a large grin across his face.

  “What?” Livia asked. “What do you mean?”

  “Well when we first came here and met you and Lady Zhi, he couldn’t believe how close the two of you were with Goddess Jokasta. At the beginning he would get so nervous before meeting either of you that he could not eat beforehand.” Pavan added as he tried to contain his laughter.

  “Really? Artesh?” Livia recoiled as she said that. “You can’t be serious.”

  Pavan laughed as he once again looked around the room.

  “Yes, but he would kill me if he’d know I told you.” Pavan kept laughing. “That’s why he’s always putting on this bravado in front of all of you.”

  Livia could not help but join in with Pavan as he laughed.

  “One time he sat in silence for a whole night because he felt that he looked like a fool in front of you and Zhi. I don’t even remember what happened but he said you corrected him on something and that he felt a shame unlike any he’d ever felt before and just sat there. He has a flair for the dramatic.” Pavan added as he laughed even more.

  Livia joined in with Pavan as they laughed.

  “Oh now I feel bad.” She replied. “If I had known I would have said something.”

  “Oh please don’t say anything!” Pavan added as he laughed. “He will know I said something! And besides it is too funny to see and it is good for him to be humbled. He might be as strong as a Titan but he should not forget he is a mere furtive.”

  The two of them were silent now. Livia looked at Pavan.

  “I know he will be fine out there. He might be dramatic, but he is as capable as any furtive I have ever seen.” She told him.

  “I still worry for him. I should be out there with them as well.”